Alexandria man charged after officer hears gunfire

Here are mugshots received from Central Louisiana law enforcement agencies for the week of July 10, 2017 . A criminal charge is a formal accusation that someone has committed a crime. All those pictured are innocent until proven guilty. To view those held in Rapides Parish detention facilities, go to www.rpso.org/inmates/all.
Wochit

A few arrests resulted in Alexandria after "many reports" of gunshots over the Fourth of July holiday, although most of what was reported actually were fireworks.

The Alexandria Police Department responded to the calls between July 2-9 from "almost every part of the city," reads a release.

An officer who was near Magnolia Street, which is near Wheelock Street off Jackson Street, thought he heard gunfire around 11:10 p.m. on July 4. When officers went there, "they found dozens of rifle and handgun shell casings in the road around a residence," it reads.

The officers contacted multiple people at the scene, finding a rifle, a handgun, suspected meth and drug paraphernalia inside the home. One of the home's residents, 29-year-old Jarron Dean Belgard, was arrested and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center.

Belgard was charged with possession of meth with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal carrying of a weapon with drugs and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was released on July 6, both on his own recognizance and a bond, according to Rapides Parish jail records.

Shortly after the Magnolia Street incident, officers were called to the 4000 block of Lakeside Drive for a report of gunfire. They found four people standing around a car on a parking lot, and officers could see a baggie containing what appeared to be marijuana and a semi-automatic handgun inside the car, reads the release.

Two of those unidentified subjects were cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.